Method and apparatus for automatic wafer inspection

ABSTRACT

An automatic semiconductor wafer inspection system including a wafer inspector, a system computer that performs movement and function control and data storage functions and a high speed image computer. Patterned wafers selected for inspection are automatically transported from cassette storage to a vacuum chuck located on the X-Y stage and positioned in a macro inspection station. The wafer is aligned and the surface illumination is changed to test for macro defects under different lighting conditions and levels of magnification. The reflected light is applied to a camera where the optical image is converted to an electrical representation thereof, stored, and then processed by the high speed image computer. After a wafer has been positioned and inspected in the macro inspection station at low magnification, it is moved by a macro-micro transport arm to the micro inspection station and a unique image previously found in the low power image is found again and used for initial alignment. An autofocus arrangment automatically focusses the objective lens to accomplish the micro inspection tests. Tests are typically carried out at a number of sites, each of which is positioned automatically by the machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the inspection of silicon wafers as used insemiconductor manufacturing processes and, in particular, to a systemfor automatically performing inspections of a patterned wafer.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Although the inspection of unpatterned wafers for cleanliness has alonebeen automated, patterned wafers continue to be inspected manually. Inthis case, a patterned wafer is placed on a wafer chuck under a brightlight and is positioned to avoid reflections so as not to blind theviewer. At the same time, the position of the light with respect to theangle of the wafer must be such as to pick up scattered light fromparticulate contamination. Also, large defects may be detected. The fullwafer is inspected and some of the characteristics of the present daymanual macro inspection are: a quick check of large defects specificallyparticulate contamination down to approximately ten microns; checks fornon-uniformities of exposure or development, and checks for poor spin;either backsplash, starburst, penumbral effect, contamination, etc.

Typically, micro inspections today are done by an inspection operatorusing a standard microscope. The areas of inspection include (1)registration checking, (2) pattern check for systematic defects, and (3)point defect checking. The latter can be typified in one of two ways:either (3a) random defects, or (3b) repeating defects. Random defectsare common to all photo processes. The resulting defect density isrecognized as a major yield limiter and as such must be monitored toprovide data for yield control. Typical sources of random defects arerandom mass defects, defects in films (including resist), air born andliquid born particulate contamination. Repeating defects from a mask orreticle are a major cause of yield loss; in particular when usingstepping lithography, the repeating defect prints everytime the reticlefield is printed.

Although manual inspection is rather simple, and requires relatively lowcost equipment, the results are somewhat inconsistent because of thesubjective nature of the assessment and the attention span of theoperator. Further, the time required to process the wafer as well as thelimited amount of information that may be readily obtained limits theapplication of the manual inspection techniques to statistical sampling.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a controlled environmentunder which automatic macro and micro inspections of wafers may beobtained.

It is another object of the invention to isolate the macro and microinspection stations from external disturbances.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide means for mountingstandard wafer cassette loaders.

It is another object of the invention to automatically select a waferfrom the standard cassette loader and place it on a wafer track.

It is still another object of the invention to move the selected waferfrom the loading track to a wafer chuck in the macro axis of a precisionX-Y stage without gripping the edges or contacting the face of thewafer.

It is a further object of the invention to automatically rotate,position and focus upon a series of predetermined sites for inspectionof a patterned wafer using the image to determine the required positionand orientation, without the need for high precision mechanics byselecting from the approximately positioned image, the area of interest.Thus, obviating the need for operator intervention for performing thewafer inspection tests.

It is yet another object of the invention to initiate the macroinspection process by automatically illuminating the wafer andsequentially selecting the lighting and lens power to effect the macroinspection process.

It is still a further object of the invention to automatically transferthe wafer chuck from the macro inspection axis to the micro inspectionaxis without moving the X-Y stage. This reduces the mass and movement ofthe precision X-Y stage, and permits increased operating speed.

It is another object of the invention to maintain the wafer macroalignment during movement from the macro axis to the micro axis tosimplify the subsequent alignment process.

It is another object of the invention to automatically shift objectivelenses of the micro optic system sequentially into a viewing position.

It is yet another object of the invention to precisely hand off from oneobjective lens to an adjacent objective lens so that the viewingobjective is located within one micron of the preceeding area under saidone objective lens view.

It is still another object of the invention to isolate the microobjective lens system from the drive mechanisms associated therewith toprevent unwanted forces acting on the micro inspection system.

It is another object of the invention to convert the optical images intoelectrical signals for comparison purposes.

Briefly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes acontrolled environment in which standard cassette wafer loaders arepositioned adjacent an input wafer track so that wafers may be selectedand automatically transported by a wafer arm to a vacuum wafer chucklocated on a precision X-Y stage. The wafer chuck is initially in themacro inspection area. For macro inspection, a series of ringilluminators provide a number of different lighting characteristicswhich are necessary for inspection for defects on the wafer surface.Mirrors and lenses are used to direct the reflected light along anoptical path and to provide adequate detail for input to a video camera.The macro system is fixed focus, with the smaller depth of field of thethree lenses just sufficient to keep the wafer in focus. Three differentmagnifications can be automatically selected to perform the macroinspection. Following macro inspection, a macro-micro transport armautomatically moves the vacuum chuck, which is holding the wafer undertest, into alignment with the micro optical axis.

Micro inspection is accomplished by detailed inspection of small finiteareas of the wafer, which include a die or a part thereof. A number ofmicroscope objective lenses are used, and the inspection begins with thelowest power lens and steps through the inspection process usingsequentially high power lenses. The objective lenses are mounted on aturret which is precisely controlled to handoff between selectedobjective lenses without adversely shifting the field of view. Aseparate optical circuit employs a light wave which is not used in thewafer inspection system. This circuit is coaxial with the viewingcircuit but uses a different wavelength. The paths are separated by adichroic mirror. A reticle is projected onto the wafer and masks areused in the return path of the reflected light. The masks vary the lightpassing in the X and Y directions depending upon the opening presented.The light outputs are converted to electrical signals which aresubtracted one from the other to determine if there is a difference.Where there is a difference, this information is provided to anadjustment means to move the turret assembly until proper focus isobtained. During stage movement, the video camera is shuttered so thatno light reaches the tube face until the X-Y stage is steady and theobjective focused. Then the shutter is opened so that the image ispresented to the input of the camera. Once the micro inspection iscompleted, the inspected wafer is returned by an output wafer arm to anoutput wafer track for transmittal to an outgoing cassette loader.

Depending upon the test results during either the macro or microinspections, a wafer may be automatically routed to an appropriateoutput cassette without completing the fully programmed inspectioncycle.

IN THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the main elements of a waferinspection system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram which generally illustrates the functionsperformed by the wafer inspector system of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram which symbolically illustrates the automatichandling of a wafer as it passes through micro and macro inspections inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a partially broken, front perspective view of wafer inspector(10) in accordance with this invention illustrating the rigid stressframe (104) and portions of the heavy aluminum castings (108) and (110);

FIG. 4A is a broken elevation view illustrating the air lock at thejunction between fixed and floating environmental covers.

FIG. 5 is a partially broken left front perspective view of waferinspector (10) which illustrates the macro inspection station (18),input wafer cassette loaders (12) and (14), input wafer track (64), X-Ystage (28), turntable (94), and macro optics;

FIG. 6 is a partially broken view of wafer inspector (10) illustratingthe input load pad (68) and input wafer arm (90) that are used in movingthe wafer from the wafer track (64) to the wafer vacuum chuck (92);

FIG. 7 is a partially broken view of the upper part of wafer inspector(10) which illustrates in more detail the macro optics and theinterchangeability of the moveable macro mirror (114) and the pentaprism(122);

FIG. 8 is a partially broken top view of wafer loading assembly (67),load pad (68) and associated actuator assembly, and illustrates wafertracks for delivering a wafer to load pad (68) and the vacuum line (71)which provides holding force for the wafer;

FIG. 8A is a top view of the load pad actuator assembly arm (70) andball slide assembly (124);

FIG. 8B is a view along line 8B--8B of FIG. 8A;

FIG. 8C is an elevation view of the garage (81) and associatedcomponents used with alignment wafer (79);

FIG. 9 is an elevation view of the drive assembly for the wafer loadtransfer arm (90);

FIG. 10 is a sectioned elevation view of the air piston (194) and driveassembly for wafer transfer arm (90);

FIG. 11 is a partially broken top view of the distal end of wafertransfer arm (90) illustrating the the recess (232) in wafer holdingmember (230) and the vacuum holes (234) in the recess;

FIG. 11A is a partially broken top view of the arcuate part of wafertransfer arm (98).

FIG. 12 is a top view of the X-Y stage (28) and shows the turntable(94), vacuum chuck (92), and the flipper drive assembly (258);

FIG. 13 is an elevation view of the X-Y stage (28), turntable (94),vacuum chuck (92) and the flipper drive assembly (258) shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an isometric view of spring-loaded drive link (264);

FIG. 14A is a partially broken section view along the line 14A--14A ofFIG. 14;

FIG. 15 is a section view of the vacuum chuck (92) and a broken view ofturntable (94) and illustrates how the vacuum chuck is mounted and how avacuum is applied to hold the wafer in place;

FIG. 16 is an elevation view illustrating the drive mechanism for themacro lenses, moveable mirror and pentaprism;

FIG. 17 is an end view along the line 17--17 of FIG. 16 illustrating howslider (372) is slideably attached to guide rail (368)

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram which illustrates the basic opticalelements and their interrelationships;

FIG. 19 is an elevation view of some of the micro optical elements andillustrates, in particular, the micro illuminator (408), imaging lenshousing (425) and microscope objective lens (642);

FIG. 19A illustrates darkfield control element (426);

FIG. 19B shows the partialy silvered mirror (428);

FIG. 20 illustrates how stepper motor (434) and pulley (438) drivesaperture and pupil stop (420) by belt (440);

FIG. 21 is an isometric view of a lens bracket used in the microilluminator (408);

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating the physical arrangement of theelements of the autofocus assembly;

FIG. 23 symbolically illustrates the location of the image of theautofocus pupil stop within the back aperture of microscope objective;

FIG. 24 is a broken view which illustrates the masks and projected imagefor autofocus control;

FIG. 25 shows graphs of the photodetector output currents which wouldresult from different occlusions of each of the masks shown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 26 is a graph of the control voltage obtained by subtracting theoutput of photodetector (494) from the output of photodetector (488);

FIG. 27 is an isometric view of an adjustable optical module including areticle pattern;

FIG. 28 is an elevation view of a mount used to permit X, Y, Z and thetaadjustment of the lens optical module of FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a side view of the mount shown in FIG. 28;

FIG. 30 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the turretmounting assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 30A is a side view of the position control lever arm (560A) used ina preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 30B is a top view of that portion of lever arm (560A) which furtherillustrates the crossed flexures exployed;

FIG. 31 is a front view of the turret mounting assembly of FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 is a side view of the turret mounting assembly of FIG. 30 andillustrates the well (668) and damper (670);

FIG. 32A shows a preferred embodiment of a damper assembly (670A) usedin the instant invention; and

FIG. 33 is a top view of the turret mounting assembly of FIG. 30;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT System Description

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, it may be seen that the wafer inspectionsystem in accordance with this invention comprises three majorsub-systems; the wafer inspector 10, the control and data storage 46 andthe high speed image computer 56. Electrical interconnection paths areshown and are designated as 40, 49, 51, 53, 55 and 57. A monitor 54 mayalso be employed. The general function inter-relationship among thesub-systems comprising the wafer inspection system may be understood byreference to FIG. 2; and the manner in which the wafer is transportedfrom the load pad 68 to vacuum wafer chuck 92 and thence to unload pad76 is generally illustrated in FIG. 3.

The system program is designed such that interaction with the systemwill be through a touch screen on monitor 54, an associated joystick 52Band by use of a concealable keyboard 52A. The monitor will display textand graphics from system computer 50 via path 53 as well as waferpattern images from high-speed image computer 56. The use of joystick52B is for manual movement of the wafer and for graphics. The systemcomputer program is menu driven and during routine wafer inspection, thetests to be performed are initiated by touching the appropriate"buttons" on the touch screen on monitor 54. The keyboard 52A is alsoaccessible but is for use by the test designer. An entry code isrequired before parts of the program to be used in an inspection, for aparticular class of wafer, may be selected. The procedure allows thedesigner to change the inspection and parameters of the micro tests.Interactive "menus" will appear on the terminal requesting the necessaryinput to either create an inspection, to inspect wafer(s), or to obtaindata output. The part of the program which the operator routinely seesis designed such that the routine inspection of production wafers can bedone with just a few instructions given to the system via the touchpanel on the monitor.

Overall control of the system is provided by the system computer 50which, among other things, insures that the various step sequences andinspection tests are performed in an orderly manner. The varioussequences move a wafer 16 from a cassette such as 12 to and through themacro and micro inspection stations and finally outputs the wafer into acassette such as 42. Each event in the sequence is accomplished in itssequence at the programmed time. However, it should be understood that anumber of non-conflicting sequences are performed simultaneously toreduce inspection time to a minimum. The wafers move to and away fromthe inspection area simultaneously. During inspection, the system isperforming the following three major functions in parallel:

(1) moving the wafer into position and focusing on and grabbing theimage;

(2) loading the test data from disk storage into RAM; and

(3) performing the computation required for the test.

Micro inspection includes a micro-measurement and a micro-comparison.The test location is found by the use of a location image which waspreviously chosen manually during training and is stored in theinspection as a fundamental part of the micro-test. Micro-measurement isperformed on preselected geometries. Any field can be compared(micro-comparison) to a reference image, or to the similar field inanother die on the same wafer. One source for the reference image is apreviously inspected die on a good wafer. The data base which was usedto produce the image directly or indirectly by optical or electron beammeans can then be used as a reference image. Disk memory 48 can also beprogrammed to provide a standard reference image from the composite ofseveral die for comparison with the image obtained from the wafer duringmicro inspection, thus removing random defects from the reference imageby comparison.

There are four cassettes 12, 14, 42 and 44 that are shown. The cassettesare standard types and are placed in indexers which permit the transferof a wafer to the wafer track from the cassette and/or to the cassettefrom the wafer track. Any of these four cassettes can be configured asan input or output. For purposes of discussion, cassettes 12 and 14,hereinafter, will be considered to be input cassettes and 42 and 44 willbe considered as output cassettes. During operation, however, a hostinput cassette which is empty is used as an output cassette. This isdone to accommodate overflow as it is not expected that the number ofwafers that pass and fail will be equal in number. These cassettes canbe configured to accommodate industrial standard cassette sizes andstepping distances. Wafer sizes of approximately 75 millimeters (3 inch)to 150 millimeters (approximately 6 inch) can be accommodated.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, it may be seen that a wafer from one ofthe input cassettes 12 or 14 is positioned in accordance with a controlsignal along path 51 from movement controller 52. At the proper time,the control signal will cause the wafer to be loaded onto wafer track64. The wafer track 64 moves the wafer 16 to the load pad 68 which islocated between the two input cassettes. As will be explained in detailsubsequently, load pad 68 is then caused to move vertically upward so asto position the wafer above the track 64. Next wafer transfer arm 90 ismoved across and beneath load pad 68 so as to be positioned on the otherside of the wafer as shown. This places the recessed portion of thearcuate end of the arm in position to accept the wafer. The load pad isnext moved downward to an intermediate position so that the wafer isslightly above the shelf which is at the bottom of said recess in thetransfer arm 90. The wafer is now in position to intersect the recessedside wall. The transfer arm is then swung to a position adjacent theload pad. Because the wafer is not precisely positioned on the load padthe side wall of said recess gently and correctly moves the wafer so asto place the wafer in position above the shelf. Next the load pad islowered to its original position and is now out of the path of thetransfer arm. A vacuum is then drawn via vacuum holes in the shelf atthe bottom of said recess to hold the wafer thereto. It is to be notedthat no gripping of the wafer edges is necessary. The wafer transfer arm90 then moves the wafer 16 above the X-Y stage 28 and the wafer isplaced on the top surface of a vacuum chuck 92 that is attached toturntable 94. The turntable is in the macro inspection station.

Prior to inspection the wafer edge and flat are found, the wafer havingbeen loaded onto the chuck in a random orientation and alignment. Theimages picked up in macro view are first used to correct rotation andpositioning of the wafer pattern. The wafer surface is then tested forpattern defects such as for bad spin, scratches, dust, etc., as well asgross image defect variations due to areas being out of focus or notreceiving uniform exposure. Light for the macro inspection process issupplied by ring lamps 20, 20A and 20B, and the fixed macro mirror 30transmits the reflected image to the camera 38. Camera 38 converts theimage into electrical signals which are passed along path 40 to highspeed image computer 56 and the image appears on the screen of monitor54.

Once the macro inspection is completed, movement controller 52 causesthe macro-micro transfer transport arm (described below) to shift theassembly containing the vacuum chuck to the micro inspection station onthe X-Y stage 28. The wafer 16 is held on the vacuum chuck 92 bypressure caused by a vacuum pulled on the bottom surface of the wafer.As will be explained in more detail later, this handoff between themacro and micro stages is precisely performed so that the wafer ispositioned for the micro inspection test. Correction for mechanicalpositioning errors is under the control of the system computer.

Tests are typically carried out at a number of sites, each of which ispositioned automatically by the machine. A stored series of images ateach site are used to correlate the image picked up from each waferunder test. Thus, the mechanical stage is not required to position tohigh acuracy. Correlation is used to select that portion of anapproximately positioned image which is to be tested. The machine may beprogrammed to go to a particular series of test sites and the testswhich may be different at each site can also be specified. The system isdesigned to lead the user through tests by a series of menus and"buttons" on a touch activated screen. This makes the systemself-teaching. The sites for tests are selected by the user; subsequentwafers to be tested are simply loaded in a cassette. The machine handlesand aligns and tests the wafers and routes each of them to pass or failcassettes as a result of the tests which are done entirelyautomatically. The sites selected for a test may or may not be unique.If the machine is to find a particular site again, it must use a seriesof unique references. These are automatically chosen by the program anddo not necessarily have to be within the field of view.

Because of the use of objective lenses and the requirement to focus at aprecise depth in the wafer pattern, each one of a plurality of objectivelenses must be brought into focus prior to the time that the pixel imageis recognized. As will be explained in more detail hereinafter, anautofocus unit shown as 36 in FIG. 2 automatically adjusts the focus ofeach of the objective lenses immediately after they are put intoalignment with the optical axis. During stage movement, shutter 37 isclosed so that no light reaches the tube face of camera 38 until the X-Ystage is steady and the objective focused. Then, the shutter is openedso that the image is presented to the input of the camera. The camerabeam current is controlled to allow integration of the light receivedduring the entire time the shutter is open. Once the shutter is closed,the signal is read from the camera. The stage can move in parallel withthis operation. Next, the picture image is transmitted to the high speedimage computer 56 where it is compared against a standard reference, oragainst an image reference which was obtained from the wafer itself andstored in temporary memory.

Once the micro inspection has been completed, a second wafer transferarm 98 moves into a position adjacent vacuum chuck 92 and beneath wafer16. The vacuum is removed from chuck 92, arm 98 then lifts up toposition the wafer above chuck 92. A vacuum is pulled to hold the waferon top of arm 98. Next, the arm 98 is caused to swing about a pivotpoint 99 so as to position wafer 16 above unload pad 76. Once inposition, controller 52 actuates the unload pad assembly causing it tomove vertically upward and lift the wafer 16 up above the arm 98. Thencontroller 52 causes the arm 98 to be swung so as to be free of thewafer downward path. Next, the unload pad 76 moves vertically downwardto position the wafer 16 for transport on track 80. Because thecomputational analysis is carried on during the inspection process, thedetermination as to whether the wafer 16 is a "good" wafer or a "bad"wafer has already been made. The wafer 16 may be classified as "pass" or"fail" and the wafer directed to cassette 42 or 44, depending upon itsclassification. Movement controller 52 then activates that portion oftrack 80 that will move wafer 16 to the proper cassette.

Wafer Inspector

Referring now to FIGS. 4-11, in conjunction with the followingdiscussion, the operational features of wafer inspector 10, inaccordance with the present invention, may be comprehended. A weldedstress frame 104 provides for rigid mounting of its base portion to afloor or other firm mounting surface. The rigid frame provides supportfor two heavy aluminum castings 108 and 110 which are speciallyconstructed to maximize their damping constants. The base casting 108sits on three air isolators 106 which rest on the welded stress frame.The upper casting 110 is firmly attached to the top surface of the basecasting by means of bolts. (not shown). In this way, critical elementsof the inspection stations are isolated from external movements.

Although not illustrated in detail, so as to not clutter the drawing,the welded stress frame provides mounting facilities for the waferhandling system. This isolates the moveable elements from theinspection. The stress frame also provides for the mounting ofenvironmental covers, see FIG. 4A, which surround the area through whichthe wafer passes during inspection so as to provide environmentalcontrol. Environmental covers are also attached to the floating portionof the wafer inspector. In order to maintain isolation between thestress frame and floating inspection station, the environmental coversare not interconnected but lie in different planes, which overlap, andare formed to provide a channel adjacent the edge. One such arrangementis shown in FIG. 4A where a fixed cover 107 is attached to fixed member105 of stress frame 104, and a floating cover 111 is attached toaluminum casting 110. This creates an air lock 113 between the twooverlapping covers because the interior of the wafer inspector ismaintained at a positive pressure. Air passing through the air lockunder pressure prevents outside contaminants from entering theinspection area.

Wafer Transport

The wafers to be inspected are contained in input wafer cassette loaders12 and 14 and these cassette loaders are positioned as shown adjacentthe input wafer track 64. If a wafer is to be loaded onto the waferchuck 92, the enabled loader outputs a wafer 16 onto an "O" ring belttrack 64 where it moves to a position midway between the cassetteloaders 12 and 14. While an "O" ring belt track has been shown, as apreferred way to move the wafer, it should be understood that othertechniques may be used to provide the desired transport. For example, awalking beam may be used, or direct moving arms may be adapted to acceptthe wafer and transport it to the load pad. It is then raised up off thebelt by a load pad 68, and the wafer transfer arm 90 swings underneaththe wafer 16.

The manner in which wafer transport is accomplished can be betterunderstood by referring to FIGS. 8-11. Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 8A,a loading and unloading assembly 67 is shown which includes, forexample, cassettes 12 and 14, "O" ring tracks and the load pad 68attached to a vertical drive arm 70. A wafer to be loaded from cassette12 is indexed onto "O" ring track 58 which is driven by motor 60. Anoptical transmitter 62 positioned between and below the upper track 64sends its optical signal vertically upward to an optical receivermounted in optical rail 63 (see FIG. 6). Interruption of the lightsignal by the wafer 16 stops motor 60 and activates motor 72 whichdrives track 64 so as to carry the wafer toward load pad 68. An opticaltransmitter 66 is positioned below the load pad aperture 68A and thelight signal is transmitted through the aperture 68A to an opticalreceiver in the rail 63. Interruption of the light signal fromtransmitter 66 notes the presence of the wafer on the load pad 68 andother programming information is used to determine what is to happennext. For example, if only selected wafers are to be subjected to theinspection, the wafer can be passed on along the track to be depositedin one of the other cassettes. If the wafer is to be subject toinspection, the wafer is stopped on the load pad 68, which is formed asa part of drive arm 70.

The structure of the drive arm and the ball slide and air piston drivearrangement are shown in more detail in FIGS. 8A and 8B. The drive arm70 is L shaped with load pad 68 attached to the end of the transversemember 70A. A vacuum line 71 is attached to the edge of the longitudinalmember 70B by mounting clamps 71A in a well known manner. The vacuumline 71 passes into the transverse member 70A adjacent the juncture ofthe transverse and longitudinal members. The vacuum line 71 runs withinthe transverse member to recess 69 in "T" shaped cut out 69A. Thus, avacuum can be pulled which is used to hold the wafer 16 on load pad 68during vertical movement thereof.

The drive arm 70 is held in a horizontally aligned position by anactuator assembly comprising a ball slide assembly 124, which is drivenvertically up and down by a pair of air pistons 126 and 128. Air piston126 has air feed lines attached in a well known manner to air lines (notshown) via couplings 138 and 139 and air piston 128 has air feed linesattached to couplings 140 and 141. As air feed lines and air supplysources are well known they are not shown to avoid drawing clutter. Themanner in which the air pistons operate is described in more detailhereinbelow. Once a wafer has been selected for inspection its movementalong the wafer track is stopped when the wafer is positionedimmediately above load pad 68 by the interruption of the light signalthrough aperture 68A. The measurement controller 52 stops the wafertrack with the wafer centered 10-30 mils above load pad 68. A suction isapplied to aperture 69 via vacuum line 71. Then air pressure is appliedto the air pistons to drive the ball slide arrangement 124 upward. As itrises and the upper surface of the load pad 68 comes in contact with thebottom surface of the wafer, the vacuum force becomes effective to holdthe wafer securely on said load pad during movement thereof. The amountof upward displacement is controlled by a flag 130 and, in particular,cut outs 132 and 132A, which operate in conjunction with opticaldetectors 134 and 136, to repeatably set the displacement. It is to benoted that the drive arm 70 and, or course, its associated load pad mayrest in any one of three positions. (1) Slightly below the wafer track;(2) above the transfer arm (maximum upward displacement) and, (3) at anintermediate position. Initially the drive arm is raised to its topposition by the application of air pressure to air pistons 126 and 128.Next, the wafer transfer arm 90 is swung under the drive arm 70 and ispositioned on the other side of the wafer. Then the drive arm 70 islowered to its intermediate position which positions the wafer slightlyabove the recess 232 in the wafer transfer arm 90. As could be expectedthe wafer setting on load pad 68 is not aligned so as to fit comfortablyin recess 232 without some adjustment. For this reason a sidewall 231 isincluded on wafer transfer arm 90 to align the wafer as said arm ismaneuvered into a position adjacent load pad 68. Thus, it is seen thatthe drive arm assembly provides a controlled vertical motion upward froma rest position to a predetermined height above the "O" ring track and amotion downward from said predetermined height to a position slightlyabove the recess 232 in arm 90 and also to a position slightly below the"O" ring track so as to be in position to readily accept a waver fromthe track.

The diameter of load pad 68 is smaller than the wafer so that when thewafer transfer arm 90 swings adjacent the wafer, after the load pad islowered to its intermediate position, the wafer is aligned in the recess232 without interference from load pad 68. Finally, the load pad canpass through the aperture in the wafer transfer arm 90 as the load pad68 moves downward. Thus the wafer is transferred to the wafer transferarm for transport.

In order to ensure that the wafer inspector 10 is properly aligned andready to perform inspection tests, a calibration wafer 79 is first runthrough the inspections. The calibration wafer is stored in garage 81 asshown in FIG. 8C. Garage 81 includes a top 81A, downwardly extendingsidewalls 81B and partial floor elements 81C extending inwardly from thelower end of each of the sidewalls. When not in use, the calibrationwafer 79 is stored in the garage which is then positioned above thewafer track 64A. When the calibration wafer is to be used, air piston 87of actuator assembly 85 is disabled and coil spring 89 acts to drive thegarage 81 downward to its lowest position. The vertical movement ismaintained by guide assembly 83. As may be seen in FIG. 8C, the wafer 79is deposited on the wafer track 64A and the partial floor elements 81Care below the top surface of the O-ring belts of track 64A. The track isenabled to move the wafer toward load pad 68 from which it will bepassed through the wafer inspector as the calibration is checked andadjustment made as necessary. Once back to the O-ring track thecalibration wafer is directed to a position within the garage. The airpiston 87 is then enabled which raises the garage and wafer above thetrack so that normal wafer inspections may be effected.

As has been previously noted, it is possible to program the computer sothat any one of the cassettes may be used as the input or output, and,of course, the output cassettes can be designated as pass and fail.Further, the inspection can be limited to specifically designated wafersin each cassette. if a wafer is not selected for test, it will be movedpast load pad 68 and along track 64A to track 80. If cassette 42 isdesignated to accept uninspected wafers, optical signals from opticaltransmitter 82 will be interrupted. This detects the presence of thewafer and causes the drive motor 84 to stop. The wafer is thenpositioned adjacent "O" ring track 86 and motor 88 will then beactivated to carry the wafer to cassette 42. Conversely, when wafer 16has been inspected, wafer transfer arm 98 will move the wafer from thevacuum chuck 92 to a position above unload pad 76. As described for loadpad 68, unload pad 76 will be activated to rise vertically and lift thewafer 16 from the transfer arm 98. The vacuum in the arm having beenremoved so that the wafer readily moves upward with the motion of theunload pad. A vacuum is applied to recess 75 of unload pad 76 via line77 to hold the wafer on the unload pad 76 during downward motion.

The transfer arm 98 is then moved away and the unload pad actuator arm74 moves vertically downward. The wafer can then be moved to the left orright on track 80 or 80A, respectively, and the direction of motion willdepend upon the results of the inspection and the location of the passand fail cassettes. Only a part of the track 80A is shown. Further, notany part of cassette 44 and its associated "O" ring track have beenshown. It should be understood, however, that operation of theseelements will be similar to that described for cassette 42 and itsassociated optical detector and "O" ring tracks. Consider the wafer tohave passed inspection and is to be lodged in cassette 42. The presenceof wafer 16 on unload pad 76 is recognized by the interruption of thelight signal from optical transmitter 78, which is centered belowaperture 76A. The associated optical receiver being located in rail 63which is located above the O-ring track. Movement controller 52 willenable motor 84 so as to cause track 80 to move the wafer from unloadpad 76 past optical transmitter 78 and over optical transmitter 82. Thisinterrupts the light signal. The position of the wafer is recognized bymovement controller 52 which stops motor 84. Next, motor 88 willactivate belt 86 to move wafer 16 into cassette 42.

Wafer Transfer Arm

The manner in which the wafer transfer arms 90 or 98 are driven to movea wafer between the load pad 68 or unload pad 76 and the vacuum chuck 92may be understood by reference to FIGS. 9-11. A stepper motor 170 has ashaft 172 connected to a bevel gear 174 which drives a bevel gear 176. Apinion gear 178 is attached to a vertical drive shaft 180 that rotatesin bearing 184 that is held in bearing support block 182. The driveshaft 180 is attached to bevel gear 176, thus the motion of the steppermotor 170 causes pinion gear 178 to rotate. A spur gear 186 is driven bythe pinion gear 178. It should be noted that the pinion gear 178 isconsiderably wider than the spur gear 186. Spur gear 186 is connected toan upper bearing support block 188 by pins 208. These pin the gear tothe hub. Pin 210 is used to pin the hub to the wafer arm drive shaft196. A lower bearing support block 202 has a threaded aperture 211 inwhich a set screw 212 is threaded to lock it to the shaft. Ball bearingsin the upper and lower bearing support blocks are designated 190 and204, respectively, and snap rings 192 and 200 hold the ball bearings inposition in the upper and lower support blocks.

Intermediate the upper and lower bearings is an air piston 194 which hasan air cylinder housing 214 that encloses an air cylinder piston 216that includes a piston drive connector 218. The snap rings 222 below andabove the piston drive connector 218 lock the air cylinder piston 216 tothe air cylinder shaft 228. O rings 224 and 226 minimize leakage aroundthe cylinder 216. Air may be applied via ports 195 or 197 depending uponwhether the wafer arm is to be driven down or up, respectively.

Thus, it is seen that the use of the wide pinion gear 178 allows acontrolled vertical movement of the wafer transfer arm 90, for example,while still allowing for drive motion, when the arm is in either theupper or lower vertical position. As will become clear in the subsequentdiscussion, the transfer arm is driven at its lower vertical height topass under the load pad prior to accepting the wafer. In order toposition the wafer 16 on wafer vacuum chuck 92, the transfer arm 90moves lateraly at its highest vertical position. Once the transfer armis positioned above the chuck, the transfer arm is dropped verticallydownward to transfer the wafer 16 to vacuum chuck 92. The transfer arm90 is then moved out of the macro inspection area.

To pick up a wafer from load pad 68, the load pad is raised to positionthe wafer at its highest level and to place the load pad actuator arm 70above the path of transfer arm 90. The wafer arm 90 swings underneaththe raised load pad 68. The load pad is dropped down to the intermediateposition which positions the wafer 16 a few millimeter above shelf 233in recess 232. Transfer arm 90 is then moved to a location adjacent theload pad and the side wall 231 of recess 232 gently moves the wafer sothat it is correctly positioned on the shelf 233 of recess 232. Thevacuum on load pad 68 is released and the load pad is dropped down toits original position. This motion causes the wafer to be deposited inthe arcuate recess of arm 90. The arcuate portion is designed to acceptthe particular size wafer being inspected and as noted hereinabove, thearcuate portion includes a recess 232 that provides a shelf 233 on whichthe bottom edge of the wafer 16 may rest. Note that there is no grippingaction caused by the wafer holding member 230. The recess is sufficientto insure that the edge of the wafer is not forced against the side wallof the recess and the shelf extends radially inward far enough toprovide adequate support. In addition to the force of gravity, whichtends to hold the wafer in position, a series of vacuum holes 234 areprovided in the shelf and these interconnect with vacuum line 236 bywhich a vacuum pressure is drawn to hold the wafer in position duringtransport.

Next, the wafer arm 90 is driven by stepper motor 170 until the wafer ispositioned over the wafer chuck 92 which at this time is centered in themacro position. Air pressure is than applied via air inlet 195 of aircylinder 214 causing the wafer arm to move vertically downward anddeposit wafer 16 on the wafer vacuum chuck 92. It being understood thatthe vacuum pressure holding the wafer 16 in the recess 232 of wafer arm90 is released so as to avoid any undue pressure on the wafer 16 whenthe underside of the wafer encounters the flat upper surface of thechuck 92. The stepper motor 170 than drives the wafer arm into a neutralposition between the X-Y stage assembly 28 and the input load pad 68.

In removing a wafer 16 from the micro inspection station, the wafertransfer arm 98 is used. The drive motor moves the arm in its lowermostposition to a position adjacent the vacuum chuck 92 and beneath thewafer 16. The chuck holding vacuum is released. The arm moves up and avacuum is drawn through the vacuum holes 234 in the top of the arcuateposition 235. It is to be noted that a recessed position is not requiredfor the arm 98, and therefore the wafer rides on the top surface beingheld in place by vacuum.

Vacuum Chuck

The wafer vacuum chuck 92 is a cylindrically shaped member having a flatend wall 93 and is positioned on the X-Y stage 28 so as to centrallylocate the wafer when the stage is in either the macro or the microinspection station position. The diameter of the flat end wall 93 ofchuck 92 is smaller than the wafer diameter and is small enough to allowthe passage of either the wafer holding members 230 or 235 when thewafer is being deposited on or removed from the top surface of thevacuum chuck 92. An example of a size comparison is a 10 centimeterwafer which will be held by a 7.5 centimeter chuck. The chuck flatness,relative to the plane which is perpendicular to the optical axis, is 25microns. The wafer is held to the chuck by a vacuum. As explainedhereinabove, the wafer arm motion causes the holding member 230 todeposit the wafer 16 centrally on the chuck 92. The vacuum on the waferarm 90 is released and the arm is retracted. Next, a vacuum is drawn onthe chuck 92 to hold the wafer in fixed position thereon. The chuck 92is releasably attached to turntable 94 so that different size chucks maybe used to accommodate different size wafers.

X-Y Stage

Referring now to FIGS. 12-15, the manner in which the wafer 16 ispositioned for inspection in either the macro or micro optical stationsmay be understood. The X-Y stage 28 is a crossed roller type stage whichis well known. The X-Y stage 28 provides 7 inches of travel in each oftwo orthogonal axes. The stage is designed to provide sufficient motionto view the entire surface of a 6 inch diameter wafer with the travelcentered on either the macro or the micro optical axis. Because theseaxes are 10 inches apart, a macro-micro transport arm 244 was developedto move the wafer 16 between the optical axes in a minimum of space.

Macro-Micro Transport Arm

The assembly comprises a base plate 240 which is mounted to the topsurface of the X-Y stage 28 by means of mounting screws 242. Amacro-micro transport arm 244 is supported above the base plate 240 byair bearings 246. The transport arm 244 is arranged to pivot aroundpivot 248 which is concentric with the central axis of a belt drivemotor 330.

In FIG. 12, the macro-micro transport arm 244 is seen to besubstantially centrally located with respect to the right side stop 250and the left side stop 252 each of which are securely fastened to thebase plate 240. These are hard stops and fixed, hardened ball-shapedbumpers 254 and 256 are positioned on transport arm 244 so as to engage,respectively, stops 250 and 252, depending upon the optical axis towhich the mechanism is driven. The transport arm 244 is preloadedagainst these hard stops which are provided at each end of its travel.The transport arm 244 is moved over its travel range by a motor drivencrank arm 260 connected to it by a spring-loaded link 264, with thecrank and link forming a straight line at each end of the travel.

The macro-micro transport arm 244 is driven by a flipper type mechanism258 which consists of crank 260 that is driven at one end thereof by adouble-reduction belt drive contained in housing 261. Thedouble-reduction belt drive is, in turn, driven by stepper motor 330.The other end of the crank arm 260 is connected by means of an eccentricpin 266 to leg 288 of spring-loaded drive link 264. The other leg 284 ofthe spring-loaded drive link is pivotally attached by pin 268 to themacro-micro transport arm 244 by means of an extension member 270 (drivearm) which is directly attached to the transport arm 244. Thus, theturning of stepper motor 330 causes the crank arm 260 to rotate, and bymeans of spring-loaded drive link 264, the macro-micro transport arm 244is pivoted about pivot 248. Once stepper motor 330 is enabled it willcontinue to move drive link 264 and, thus, transport arm 244 untilsensor flag 272, which is attached to the proximal end of the drive leg282, intersects a limit sensor, either 276 or 280, depending upon thedirection of travel. Limit sensors 276 and 280 are positioned so as tobe adjacent limit stops 274 and 278, respectively. These limit stopsprovide a back-up to insure that the drive mechanism does not attempt todrive the transport arm past the stops 250 or 252 attached to the baseplate 240. At the same time, the spring-loaded drive link 264 isdesigned to insure that the transport arm 244 is forceably held againsteither stop 250 or stop 252.

The transport arm 244 must be moved so that it is always positioned andspring loaded against one of the hard stops. This is done to obtain arepeatable preload of the transport arm 244 against either stop 250 orstop 252. In order to accomplish such a result, it is necessary that thedrive motor 330 drives crank arm 260 from one limit stop to the other.To obtain the desired result, a special drive link has been developed,and the drive link is shown in FIGS. 14 and 14A.

FIG. 14 is an isometric view of the spring-loaded drive link 264 andFIG. 14A is a sectional view illustrating the manner in which themechanical interconnection is provided so as to permit the shortening ofthe drive arm link while maintaining a constant pressure against thetransport arm to hold it hard up against a stop. It should also be notedthat the structure is such that the links 282 and 284 are maintained inaxial alignment at all times.

Referring now to FIGS. 14 and 14A, it may be seen that link 282 has aspring-stop 290 at the distal end thereof. Formed at the distal endadjacent to the the spring stop 290 is a flexure mounting block 288which is at right angles to the axial length of leg 282. Leg 284 has an"L" shaped block 292 which includes axially aligned leg 294 and flexurealigned leg 296, the latter being parallel to the block 288. As may beseen in FIG. 14A, axial leg 294 has a cut out which provides space forthe spring-stop 290 and movement thereof between the spring contacts 300and 310 of the Vlier spring plungers 298 and 308, respectively. Toprevent excessive axial misalignment of the legs 282 and 284, a flexuremember 302 is attached to the end of blocks 288 and 296 by means offlexure retaining blocks 304 and 306, respectively, which are secured bymounting screws 312. An aperture 314 in the proximal end of leg 282 isadapted to accept eccentric pin 266, and the aperture 316 at theproximal end of leg 284 is adapted to accept pivot pin 268. Thus, thespring-loaded drive link 264 is connected between the crank drive arm260 and the drive arm 270.

While the macro-micro transport arm 244 positions the wafer, which islocated on the vacuum chuck 92, in either the macro or micro opticalinspection station location, complete alignment of the wafer forinspection purposes may require the rotation of the wafer. For thisreason, a turntable 94 is provided. The turntable 94 rests solidly onstage 28 during a test. Prior to rotary movement an air solenoid isoperated and the macro-micro transport arm 244 is then supported on airbearings 246 to facilitate rotation. In order to minimize the weight ofthe stage assembly, a plurality of apertures are formed in the surfaceof turntable 94. One such aperture is shown as 320 in FIG. 12. The edgeof the turntable 94 is crowned in order to keep the drive belt 326centered on the edge of the turntable. A toothed belt drive pulley 328is turned by a belt drive motor (not shown) and the pulley and beltdrive motor axis of rotation are positioned at the pivot point of themacro-micro transport arm 244 and is identified as pivot 248. An idlerpulley 332 is employed for adjustment of the belt drive tension.

While the use of a calibration or alignment wafer is the preferredmethod, a calibration target may also be used to initially align theinspector. A calibration target 334 is shown and is located on thetransfer arm 244. The target is employed to effect precise camera andoptics calibration prior to inspection. Because the position of thewafer is determined from the camera image before and after each move,the rotational repeatability of the stage need only be sufficient for asingle rotation. Long term drift in repeated rotations is unimportant.Since a stepper motor is used for rotation, precise single moves may bemade by moving a specified number of steps.

Vacuum chuck 92 is centered on turntable 94 and is securely attachedthereto by means of mounting bolts 336 that pass through the top surface93 of the vacuum chuck through the sides of the recessed cylindricalbase 338 and are secured in the turntable 94. In order to supply vacuumto the chuck top surface, a vacuum line (not shown) is attached to chuckvacuum inlet connector 340 which is attached to the connector assembly342 and is connected to the vacuum line 344 which passes between thetransfer arm 244 and the turntable 94 and is connected to the vacuumfeed line 346 located in stand pipe 348. Stand pipe 348 is connected tothe transfer arm 244 and is not rotatable. Bearings 350 are provided inturntable 94, thus allowing rotation of the turntable as the stand pipe348 remains stationary. The stand pipe 348 is a shoulder screw whichpasses through the central aperture 352 and turntable 94. The upper endof pipe 348 terminates below the inside of the top surface of the chuckrecess 358. The bottom end of pipe 348 sits on the top surface ofmacro-micro transport arm 244. Vacuum is drawn through the recess 358and O ring 354, which is seated in recess 352, to provide the necessarysealing against the loss of a vacuum at port 358.

Macro Inspection

The wafer accepted from one of the input cassettes and transferred viawafer arm 90 to the vacuum chuck 92 is initially in the macro inspectionstation position. The wafer 16 is loaded onto chuck 92 without concernfor orientation or precise alignment. Prior to the inspection, the waferedge and flat are found. The images picked up in macro view are firstused to effect correct rotation and positioning of the wafer pattern.The macro inspection employs three different angles of illumination aswell as three different levels of magnification to inspect fortopological and patterning defects. The full wafer is viewed initially(up to 150 mm in diameter). This requires the lowest magnification 1/16×which gives the largest field of view. Also, the illumination is such asto give appropriate lighting to the full surface under test. The treeangles of illumination are obtained by a vertical array of three ringlamps that are arranged to generate different angles of illumination,from near field to dark field. The range is approximately from 10degrees to 85 degrees, with different lamps being used to highlightdifferent types of wafer defect, i.e., topological or patterningdefects. The lamps may be switched on and off under computer control. Byviewing the wafer, the flat is first found and the wafer rotated to theapproximately correct orientation. A second view of the pattern on thewafer is processed in the computer to determine pattern orthogonality(which may be displaced a few degrees from flat) and a more exactrotation of the wafer performed. A third view of the entire wafer isthen used to align to a reference. feature selected in X-Y by the user.The reference may be either a test die or the perimeter of a step array.Test areas can then be automatically positioned and inspected in themacro mode. At the end of the macro tests, the computer chooses an areaat the highest macro magnification, 1/2×, which is unique in its fieldof view and small enough to be found again in the largest microobjective field. It has to be unique within the area of uncertainty inpositioning due to the sum of the errors in macro positioning andhand-off when seen in the micro field. It must be small enough so thatit still resides completely within the micro field allowing for theseerrors.

The macro inspection requires the sequential use of the three differentmacro lenses, which means that each one must be separately moved intothe optical path. The 1/2× lens 116 is positioned to be directly infront of the macro mirror 30 when it is in use but is shifted out of theoptical path when not in use. This is also true for macro lenses 118 and120 although they are positioned adjacent the camera 38. The drivesystem must be precise and should take a minimum of space.

Macro Lens Transfer

The preferred technique by which the macro lenses are moved is shown inFIGS. 16 and 17. Referring to the FIGURES, it may be seen that ahorizontal guide rail 368 is attached to vertical members 364 that aresecured to the top surface of the upper aluminum casting 110 by screws366. A slider 372 is secured to the top surface of the guide rail 368 bymeans of rods 370 and 374 which hold the balls 376 in position so as toprovide an easy and accurate sliding motion. A drive arm 380 ispivotally attached to slider 372 via downwardly extending member 381 bymeans of a pivot pin 382. A wall 385 is formed in the space between thevertical members 364 and between the horizontal guide rail 368 and thetop surface of casting 110. A stop member 388 is mounted on wall 385 andis positioned to intercept the stop screws 389 and 393 when the slider372 is in either of its two assigned positions. Stop screws 389 and 393are installed, respectively, in the lower ends of member 381 and 383.Adjustment is effected by lock nuts 391 and 395 which are adjusted sothat the slider is stopped in the assigned position at each end of itstravel. Note that drive arm 380 includes a flexible member 384 whichincludes expansion-compression sections 386 and 390 that allow slider372 to be driven hard against the stop in either direction of travel. Inone direction the slider is driven until the screw is hard against stop388. In the other direction, the slider is is driven until screw isagainst the other side of stop 388. It should be noted that there is apad 372 that may contact the upper side of drive arm 380. Thus, the lenswill always be accurately positioned, because the slider will be drivenhard against the stop 388. The drive end of the drive arm 380 isconnected to an eccentric arm 392 by means of pivot 394, and it is notedthat the other end of eccentric arm 392 is pivotally attached at pivot398 to spur gear 396 which engages with pinion gear 400 that is drivenby stepper motor 402. The drive assembly for positioning a macro lens,the pentaprism or the moveable mirror is selected and is enabled bysignals from controller 52. The sinusoidal motion of the crank providesgentle but accurate positioning at the stops while providing rapidmovement in the center of travel. This is accomplished by each of thecrank arm drive mechanisms.

In addition to the X-Y stage 28, on which the turntable 94 and chuck 92are supported, the macro inspection station includes the wafer 16 andthree ring lamps 20, 20A and 20B, which are selectively illuminated toprovide the proper illumination for macro inspections. The reflectedlight passes upward toward a fixed macro mirror 30 where its directionis changed from vertical to horizontal and the light passes through oneof the three macro lenses, 116, 118 or 120. Note that lens 116 which inthe preferred embodiment is a 1/2× lens is positioned so that it may beplaced directly in front of the fized macro mirror 30. Because thehorizontal light direction from mirror 30 is at right angles to theinput of camera 38, a moveable macro mirror 114 is positioned tointercept the light from macro mirror 30 so as to redirect it in thehorizontal plane to the input of camera 38. In the path between themoveable macro mirror 114 and the camera 38, either the 1/8 lens 118 orthe 1/16× lens 120 may be inserted during the macro inspection process.

Following macro inspection, stepper motor 262 will be enabled bymovement controller 52; and motor 262 will move crank arm 260, which, inturn, will move drive link 264 and cause the macro-micro transfer arm244 to rotate about pivot 248. This moves the wafer from the macroinspection station to the micro inspection station and the X-Y stagewill than be moved by drive motors 100 and 102 so as to repeatablyposition the wafer in the micro inspection station location. The systemcomputer is programmed to provide for coarse adjustment of the waferposition during handoff. Fine adjustment is achieved by correlation ofthe images with reference images which were automatically selected asbeing unique in the macro and micro field of view. The same image atdifferent magnifications is used. It should be noted that the turntable94 is rotated as the X-Y stage 28 is "flipped" from the macro to themicro inspection station. This is done to correct for the rotation ofthe wafer due to the "flipping" movement and image rotation produced bymacro and micro imaging systems. As noted hereinabove, image correlationis used to provide fine rotation adjustment and is accomplished bystoring an image at one end of the wafer; moving over one die andfinding the same image and correcting for misalignment. The stage isthen moved a distance equal to an integral number of die near the otherside of the wafer and final rotational adjustment is then made.

A number of the elements involved in the micro inspection areillustrated in FIGS. 4-7. At the time the wafer is being moved from themacro to the micro inspection station position, the moveable mirror 114is moved out of the optical path and pentaprism 122 is moved into theoptical path associated with the micro inspection station 32. The microinspection system is built around a turret 608 and an imaging lenshousing 425 of a Leitz Ergolux microscope. The turret 608 is placed on aspecial stepper motor driver mount which allows vertical motion of theturret to a resolution of 2×10⁻⁶ inch to focus the microscope. A secondstepper motor is used to automatically rotate the turret from oneobjective lens position to another with a handoff precision betweenobjectives and with a repeatability of one micron. There are fiveobjective lenses on the turret in the preferred embodiment. A discussionin detail of the vertical and rotational motion of the turret will beprovided later.

Macro-Micro Optics

The overall optical arrangement for the macro and micro inspectionstations is illustrated schematically in FIG. 18. For the macroinspection station 18, it may be seen that three ring lamps 20, 20A and20B are vertically spaced one above the other, with each beingsymmetrically disposed concentrically about the macro optical path 19.The light shields 22, 24 and 26 are circular and positioned above eachof the lamps to prevent direct light from the lamps being transmittedvertically upward. It is to be noted that the inwardly extending radiallength of each shield increases for the higher positioned shields. Thelight from ring lamps 20, 20A and 20B illuminate the wafer under test 16and the reflected light is transmitted to mirror 30 and is then directedto and passed through one of the macro lenses 116, 118 or 120, andmoveable mirror 114. Note that mirror 114 appears in the path beforeeither lens 118 or 120. A shutter 37 controls the light images that maybe applied to the image input of the camera 38. When the macro-microtransfer arm 244 repositions the wafer 16 into the micro optical axis onX-Y stage 28, the moveable mirror 114 is moved out of the path and thepentapenta prism 122 is moved into position so that light from the microoptical path 470 is redirected via prism 122 to the image input of thecamera 38. The images then are obtained using one of the five objectivelenses 642 which are mounted on the lens turret assembly 608. Only oneof the lenses is positioned so as to view the pattern on the wafer atone time and, as will be explained later, the camera 38 is not enabledto pick up the image prior to the time that the autofocus mechanismautomatically insures that the image is in focus. The manner in whichthis is done will be discussed in more detail hereinafter.

In order to provide the appropriate illumination for the image system ofthe micro inspector, a main illuminator assembly 408 is provided asshown in FIGS. 18 and 19. In a preferred embodiment of the invention,illumination is provided by a modified light illuminator such as isstandard on the Ergolux. Referring now to FIGS. 18 and 19, theilluminator assembly 408 for the micro inspection station includes anilluminator housing 410 which includes a lamp 412. The light from lamp412 is passed through a central aperture to a frosted focusing lens 414.Next, the focused light passes through one light filter of a filterwheel 416 that is mechanically adjustable. A filter which passes lighthaving wavelengths between 400 and 550 nanometers is used for most microtests during an inspection. A narrow band filter is employed for linewidth measurements. A black and white camera is used principally becauseit has superior resolution as compared with a color camera. The filteredlight then passes through a focusing lens 418 to an aperture and pupilstop assembly 420. The manner in which elements such as lenses 414 and418 are held in position is illustrated in FIG. 21. Referring to FIG. 21it is seen that a lens 446 is seated in lens holder 444 and ismaintained in correct alignment by vlier screw 448.

As it is known, small apertures and narrow band light are needed toilluminate fields where maximum modulation or pattern definition isrequired, e.g., in line width measurements. Of course, this reduces theincident energy and thus increases the time required to obtain an imagewith an acceptable signal to noise ratio. Where such a criticalmeasurement is not being made, the incident energy of the light can begreater and the image pickup time reduced. It is also necessary tochange the illumination aperture for darkfield measurements.

The light from focusing lens 418 passes through pupil aperture 422 andfixed field stop 424 to the imaging lens assembly 425. The light isfirst controlled by a dark field control element 426 which may beadjusted to provide darkfield or brightfield illumination (see FIG.19A). The bright or dark field light then passes through the annularlens 426 and then strikes the illuminator mirror 428. The partiallysilvered illuminator mirror 428 (see FIG. 19B) is positioned to reflectthe light downward through the objective lens to the surface of thewafer and allows the reflected image to pass up through the microoptical path 470.

The elements in the micro optical path 470 are mounted in the opticalrail 430, partially shown in FIG. 19. The optical rail 430 is mounted tothe floating aluminum chassis 110.

Three aperture/pupil stop combinations are automatically provided, onefor brightfield (5×-50×), one for darkfield, and one for 100× for linewidth measurements. Referring now to FIG. 20, it may be seen how thefilter 416 or pupil stop and aperture assembly 420 may be automaticallyadjusted to obtain the correct color filter or aperture pupil stopcombination. A stepper motor 443 is mounted to the micro illuminatorassembly 408 by means of mounting bracket 436. Under control of movementcontroller 52, stepper motor 443 turns drive shaft 437 which, in turn,causes pulley 438 to rotate. Drive belt 440 transfers the drive motion,e.g., to aperture/pupil stop 420. Means are also provided to accuratelycenter the stop 420 so as to produce symmetrical images for line widthmeasurement. The illuminator also contains the filter wheel which isused to provide different illumination wavelengths.

Above the turret 608, mounted in the optical rail 430, is the Leitzimaging lens assembly 425. The imaging lens assembly takes collimatedlight reflected from the wafer through the objective lens and forms animage at the field lens 472. The images at the field lens are relayed tothe camera tube of the TV camera 38 via 100 mm focal length collimatinglens 474, 200 mm focal length imaging lens 478, filter 480, and thepentaprism 122. By use of the 100 mm lens 474 and 200 mm lens 478 incombination in the optical path, the images at the field lens aremagnified two times in passing through this portion of the optical path.Filter 480 has been added to further attenuate the red light used in theautofocus (automatic focusing system).

As noted hereinabove, the light images for the camera 38 are controlledby a shutter 37, and the shutter is closed so that during the time thewafer is being positioned no light reaches the camera. Once the stage 28is steady and the objective focused, the shutter is opened so that theimage is presented to the input of the camera. The camera beam currentis controlled to allow integration of the light received during theentire time the shutter is open. Once the shutter is closed, the signalis read from the camera. The stage can move in parallel with thisoperation. Thus, the image is converted into an electricalrepresentation on the face of the camera tube. The time during which theshutter is opened is programmable. The system computer program is usedto automatically adjust this time so that sufficient light can fall onthe tube to provide an adequate signal to noice ratio. It is only afterthe shutter is closed again that the controller 52 permits theelectronics to provide current to scan the tube face of camera 38 andread out the stored image. During the first complete scan (raster) theimage is read into high speed memory. Scanning is allowed to continuefor several more complete rasters to remove the residual image after theshutter is again closed. In this way, several purposes are accomplished.The light can be integrated for a sufficient time to provide good signalto noice ratios even for low reflecting images or where narrowillumination apertures or bandwidth are employed. Also, the residualimage can be effectively removed and does not get added to the wantedimage. Further, the image can be read out in parallel with the nextmovement of the stage thereby increasing the testing speed.

Autofocus Electro-optics

An automatic focusing system for the objective lenses is provided, andcomprises an electrical drive circuit, an autofocus optical system whichprovides a feedback signal to control the drive circuit and a flexuremounted turret assembly. Operation of the autofocus optical system maybe understood by reference to FIGS. 18, 22-27. Referring to FIGS. 18 and22, the general configuration of a preferred embodiment of an autofocusassembly may be seen. A lamp housing 450 includes a quartz halogen lamp452 which is the light source for the autofocus system. The light ispassed through collector lens 454 and condenser lens 456, and through ared filter 458, which passes light having wavelengths longer than 600nanometers. The use of a red filter is to control the frequency of thelight used and, thereby, permit selection of the autofocus opticalsignal from the optical signal used for the the micro inspection opticalpath 470.

The light is then applied to a pupil stop 460 which contains aneccentric pin hole aperture which offsets the image location. Thisoffset is illustrated pictorially in FIG. 23. The image of the pupilstop on the objective back aperture is 1/2 the diameter of the smallestobjective back aperture which is 100×. The position of the pupil isadjusted so that its image is just tangent to the 100× back aperture asshown in FIG. 23. This causes the returning image of the projectionreticle, a schematic example is shown in FIG. 27, to move laterally asthe microscope objective is moved up and down, i.e., in and out offocus. Thus, when the microscope is in focus the returning image of theprojection reticle will fall on the reticle so that the image of thereticle pattern is coincident with the reticle pattern itself. As theobjective lens is moved out of focus, this image will translatelaterally relative to the projection reticle.

After passing through the pupil stop 460, the lamp light from lamp 452passes through the pupil lens 462 (focal length 50 mm) and becomescollimated. It then passes through a projection reticle 464, located 100mm from the pupil lens. The projection recticle 464 lies at the focalpoint of the 100 mm focal length autofocus imaging lens 468 whichcollimates the light coming from the reticle. The autofocus light,containing only wavelengths above 600 nm, then enters the microinspection system optical path 470 via a dichroic mirror 476 whichreflects the light having a wavelength longer than the 600 nm red lightand transmits light with shorter wavelengths. Since the light from thereticle is collimated when it enters the optical path 470 in thecollimated space between the 100 mm microscope collimating lens 474 andthe 200 mm microscope imaging lens 478, the reticle image is focused onthe wafer when the microscope is in focus.

The 100 mm autofocus imaging lens 468 is located with the image of theback aperture of the objective at its focal point. This image is thancollimated between the 100 mm imaging lens and the 50 mm pupil lens 462and brought to a focus at the pupil stop 460 located at the focal pointof the 50 mm pupil lens 462. Thus, the pupil stop 460 is imaged on theback aperture of the microscope objective and vice versa.

The image of the pupil stop on the objective back aperture is one-halfthe diameter of the smallest objective back aperture (100×). Theposition of the pupil is adjusted until its image is just tangent to the100× back aperture, with it centered vertically above the optical axis.It is not necessary that the aperture be vertically above center, but itis necessary that it be off axis, i.e., in a position to control thedirection of rotation of the return image, Thus, proper positioningcauses the returning image of the projection reticle to move laterallyas the microscope moves up and down, in and out of focus. The movementof the image of the projection reticle with respect to the projectionreticle will depend upon how the image is affected by elements in theoptical path. For example, the movement may be vertical with respect tothe right mask and horizontal with respect to the left mask. Thedirection of movement will be such as to increase the occulsion for onewhile decreasing the occulsion of the other as the objective lens ismoved from a position of focus. However, in FIG. 24 only verticalmovement is shown, it being understood that this is to illustrate theeffect of the translation and is not a limitation. This image movementis such that the right and left masks provide equal light outputs whenthe lens is in focus. The reflected reticle image is transferred fromthe micro inspection optical path 470 to the autofocus path by dichroicmirror 476. Fifty-percent of the autofocus red light returning from thewafer is split out of the main beam by beam splitter 466 stationedbetween the autofocus imaging lens 468 and the projection reticle 464.This split-off light is then split into two equal beams by a secondfifty-percent beam splitter 482 to left and right light sensingcircuits.

In the left light sensing circuit, a mask 484 and detector lens 486provide variable light input to a photodetector 488. The right sensingcircuit comprises mask 490 and detector lens 492 which provides avariable light input to a photodetector 494. The detector lenses 486 and492 each focus the collimated pupil light from the 100 mm lens 468,respectively, on photo detectors 488 and 494, i.e., the pupil isactually imaged onto the surface of the associated detector. Detectors488 and 494 each separately convert the separate light inputs intoelectrical signals representative of the magnitude of the light inputand these electrical signals are applied to inputs of comparator 500 viapaths 496 and 498, respectively. The amplitude of the electrical signalsapplied to comparator 500 depends upon the amount of light passingthrough the right or left mask. By substracting the electrical signals,the electrical output signal will be zero when the objective lens is infocus, i.e., the electrical signals are equal. As the objective moves inthe negative direction from focus, the reticle images both move down.When in focus, an equal portion of each returned image is occluded, inone image the top portion of the return image is occulded, in the otherthe bottom portion is occulded. The return masks may be adjusted toprovide 30%, 50% or 90% occulsion. Only the 30 % occulsion isillustrated in FIG. 24 to avoid confusion in the drawing. The electricaloutput for the different amounts of occulsion is illustrated in FIG. 25.It is to be understood that as images go out of focus, the light passingthrough one mask will increase while that passing through the other maskwill decrease. The reverse situation occurs when the direction of motionof the objective changes from the direction of focus. The signal outputfrom comparator 500 is essentially linear about zero, as shown in FIG.26, and is applied to a stepper motor 576 which provides vertical drivethrough a lever system to the movable turret support member 544.

Because of the difference in focal length of the optical system at thedifferent wavelengths used for the imaging and focusing tasks, theposition of focus may be different. This can be partially corrected bypositioning the optical components, however, because several differentobjectives are used with different color correction, electronic offsetmay be required to focus the image on the camera. This may be achievedby first focusing using the normal autofocus system described above andthen offsetting the position of the objective to the required focus forthe camera. This will be a fixed distance away from the normal focus.This can be achieved by counting pulses on an encoder connected to themechanical drive as the mechanical system is essentially backlash andfriction free. Such an encoder may be included, for example, with motor576. An offset signal is stored in memory and is applied as a series ofdigital pulses to operate the encoder. Alternatively, this can be doneby setting the necessary electrical offset in the autofocus system. Inthis latter case, the intensity of the returned signal changes dependingupon the reflectivity of the wafer and the focus illumination intensity.The gain, G, of the system near focus is linear and can be measured bystepping (moving away from focus) a fixed distance, d, and measuring thevoltage change v over the required target area on the wafer. Circuitsfor providing the motion and measurement are well known and, in apreferred embodiment, are effecuated by control and data storage 46, inconjunction with the autofocus system. If the required offset to obtainbest focus is X, the offset voltage V_(o) is given by V_(o) =X·v/d. Asanother alternative, the compensation may be based on the variation inthe light returning from the wafer and is compensated for by using thesum of the reflected signals with the wafer in place minus thebackground readings with no wafer in place to normalize the differencesignal.

The autofocus system is capable of tracking focus while the stage 28moves. However, during motion the focus is positioned to give zerooffset. This is because the reflectivity of the wafer is changing,depending upon the geometry, and so the required offset voltage for bestfocus also changes. The null position remains a fixed distance from thewafer as the signal to both sensors changes at the same rate.

The autofocus system would work with a single hole or occlusion in theprojection reticle (and a similar pair, i.e., hole and occlusion in thereturn path). The purpose of using multiple images is to avoid thedefocus problem associated with an image positioned across an edge whichhas different reflectivity on either side. This would cause somedefocusing in a stationary image. Ideally, these images should berandomly scattered across the reticles.

Referring now to FIGS. 22, 27-19, some of the physical characteristicsof the electro optical circuit employed in the autofocus mechanism maybe understood. The physical arrangement of the elements is shown in FIG.22 and it is important to notice the eccentricity of the pin holeaperture 460, which is of critical importance to the autofocus opticalanalysis. Referring to FIG. 27, a typical optical module mount 510 isillustrated. The optical module 514 is shown holding the projectionreticle 464 and the assembly includes a theta adjust lever 516.Referring to FIGS. 28 and 29, which are front and side elevation viewsof the adjustable mounting assembly 518, the manner in which theadjustable lens mounting assembly 518B is flexure attached to assembly518 may be seen. A parallelogram flexure assembly comprises upper andlower X-axis flexure arms 521A and 521B on either side and Y-axisflexure arms 523A and 523B at the top and bottom. From the drawing, itis apparent that screw 520 provides an X axis adjustment and, screw 522provides a Y axis adjustment for the optical module 514. The adjustablemounting assembly 518B also includes an aperture 524 which is threadedand includes a theta locking screw (not shown). Access to the lockingscrew is via an aperture (not threaded) through 518 which is alignedwith aperture 524. When the theta locking screw is backed out, therotational or theta adjustment of the image holder 514 can be obtainedby moving the theta adjust lever 516. Once the theta adjustment isproper, the theta locking screw is than tightened and the image holderis held in position. The attachable mounting assembly 518 rests on aguide member and the base 526 includes guide slots 530 to permit Z axisadjustment. The base is held in position by locking members 528.

Turret Adjust Assembly

Referring now to FIGS. 30-33, the manner in which the turret mountingassembly 540 provides the necessary vertical motion for focusing of anobjective lens, and the manner in which the rotational movement ofturret 608 is used to select the desired objective lens may beunderstood. The turret mounting assembly 540 includes a rigid part 542which provides the fixed support for the non-moveable elements and thosemoveable elements which are used to provide the vertical motion forfocusing and the rotational motions for objective lens selection. Amoveable turret support portion 544 is attached to the rigid supportpart 542 by means of flexure assembly 546. A pair of flexure members 548and 548A, each comprising a flat sheet of material which exhibits acertain degree of flexibility, provide the interconnection between thefixed and moveable parts of the turret assembly and guide the turretassembly along a nearly vertical path without allowing the objectivelenses to tilt. The end portions of the flexure members 548 and 548A areattached by means of clamping plates 550 at the upper and lower ends ofthe turret assembly and to a corresponding portion of the rigid memberback plate 542. Rigid member 542 is attached to aluminum casting 110 bysuitable means (not shown). For the lower and upper flexure members,stiffening plates 554 and 556 are employed to sandwich the flexuremembers 548 and 548A so as to control the degree of flexure that may bereadily obtained. It should be understood that the motion of themoveable turret support 544 is to be in the order of 0.015 inch.However, it is necessary to accomplish this motion without hysteresis orany frictional problems that may be associated with other types of drivesystems. This is necessary because repeatability within about 0.05micron is desired. By using the drive technique of this invention, theprecision positioning desired is obtained.

As seen in the drawing, although similar stiffening plates 554 and 556are employed with the flexure member 548 as are employed with 548A, anaperture is formed in the plates associated with flexure member 548 toaccommodate support wire 570. The function of this wire will bediscussed in more detail later.

As described hereinbelow, turret assembly 608 is mounted on a moveableturret support 544 that allows vertical motion under the control of amotor 576. In a preferred embodiment, a dc motor and an encoder are usedto provide controlled drive. To obtain repeatability to within 2×10⁻⁶inches in the focus of the microscope, the turret support 544 isattached to the rigid member 542 of the inspection assembly by means offlexures. The weight of the assembly causes a downward force on theflexures which would force the turret support downward toward its lowestvertical position, and is augmented by a coil spring 573 which acts intension to pull the support down. A position control lever lever arm 560has a wire 570 attached thereto. The other end of the wire is attachedto the moveable turret support 544 at the turret lift arm 572 by meansof a clamp 574. The wire and lever arm act to pull turret support 544 upagainst its weight and the force of coil spring 573.

In one embodiment of the invention the position control lever arm isflex supported as shown in FIGS. 30, 31, 32 and 33. At the proximal end,the position control lever lever arm 560 is attached to a cantileversupport arm 562 by means of a flexure member 564. Flexure member 564 isattached at one end to cantilever support arm 562 by upper clampingplate 566 and at the other end to position control lever arm 560 bymeans of lower clamping plate 568. The distal or drive end, of theposition control lever arm 560, is driven by vertical position motor576, which is mounted on horizontal support 578 that is attached to theback plate 542. The shaft 580 from motor 576 is attached to micrometer(or lead screw) 584 at the screw end 586 by means of a rigid couplingmember 582. The micrometer frame (or lead screw nut) 588 is connected todrive member 590. Thus, as the motor 576 turns under control of theautofocus signal input, the precise position provided by the motor 576is, in turn, used to drive a precise instrument so as to provide verysmall precise almost linear steps for positioning the lever arm 560. Theposition control lever arm 560 is driven by a flexure drive link 592which is clamped at one end to the drive member 590 by means of clampingplate 596 and to the distal end of position control lever arm 560 byclamping plate 594. In order to insure that the vertical motion stayswithin acceptable limits, a limit flag 598 is attached to drive member590. Lower and upper limit optical detectors 600 and 602, respectively,are positioned to intercept the flag 598 so as to stop the verticalmotion when the upper or lower limit is reached.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the proximal end of positioncontrol lever arm 560A is supported by crossed flexures as illustratedin FIGS. 30A and 30B. A single vertical flexure 564A is used and ispositioned intermediate two horizontal flexure 564B and 564C which areeach about one-half the width of 564A. The upper clamping plate 566A isL shaped and is designed to accept a horizontal clamping plate 566Bwhich clamps one end of each of the horizontal flexure 564B and 564C.The other end of each horizontal flexure is clamped to position controllever arm 560A by a horizontal clamping plate 566C. This plate acts toretain horizontal compliance while allowing the lever arm 560A to pivotabout the line of intersection between 564B and 564A. At the distal ordrive end, a new pivot structure replaces the flexure drive link 592.This structure acts to eliminate side loads and bending moments on leadscrew 586. This eliminates variability of lead screw drag and minimizesthe drag. As shown in FIG. 30A, the pivot structure is positionedbetween horizontal support 578 and the under side of the distal end ofposition control lever arm 560A. Horizontal support 578 is clamped tothe nut that travels vertically on lead screw 586 as the lead screwrotates. A bottom plate 593A includes a V-slot 595A which is alignedwith V-slot 595B in floating plate 593B. A pair of balls one shown as597A, are positioned in the aperture formed by V-slots 595A and 595B,and thus permits a small amount of "Y" direction travel. In line withthe control lever 560A is a pair of V-slots, one in the upper surface ofsaid floating plate 595B which is aligned with the V-slot in top plate593C. A pair of balls 597B and 597C are positioned in this upperlongitudinal V-slot and permit a small amount of travel in the "X"direction. The asembly is flexibly held together by four coil springsone adjacent each end of the two V-slot formed apertures. The top plateof this pivot structure is atached to the end of position control leverarm, and the movement force is then transmitted from the motor 576 (dcmotor and encoder) to the turrent support structure 544 via support wire570.

It will be understood that, by the use of the turret support flexuremembers, the cross flexure connection to the proximal end of positioncontrol lever arm 560, the use of the pivot structure at the drive endand the drive wire 570, sidewise motion as well as other motions thatmight otherwise adversely effect the positioning during focus operationhave been substantially eliminated. Further, the manner in whch theflexure support members 548 are attached so as to support the moveableturret support 544 in relation to the fixed portion 542 is such that themotions other than vertical are substantially prohibited. As a follow-onwith the avoidance of any sidewise thrust, the position control lever560 has an aperture 604 at the distal end which is designed to allowpassage of the thimble part 606 of micrometer 584. In a preferredembodiment of the invention, the drive movement for the moveable turretsupport member 544 provided the following characteristics. The flexureand the wire attachment to the turret assembly 544, in combination withthe lever arm arrangement, provided a ratio of 31:1; and the steppermotor had a lead screw with 40 threads to the inch. By the use of thisflexure mounting arrangement and drive system, the focusing mechanismexhibited a negligible hysteresis and provided a resolution of 2×10⁻⁶inch.

Although in a preferred embodiment, a moveable lens assembly has beenused in the autofocus system, it should be understood that otherarrangements could be employed. For example, the lens position could beheld fixed and the stage could be moved up or down to bring the waferinto focus.

OBJECT LENS HAND-OFF

Another problem associated with the automatic micro inspectiontechniques is the handoff between objective lenses. The inspection of aparticular location within a die of the wafer requires that theobjective lenses that are sequentially used to provide the differentmagnifications must be positioned to a repeatability of less than onemicron from one objective to the next. While a precise drive systemmight provide the necessary hand-off positioning from one objective lensto the next, a major problem with such a device is the slow speed atwhich it must operate in order to accomplish the desired result.

In the present invention, a standard turret 608 is modified to mountV-slots such as 612 and 614, which are made of a hardened material andcan be adjusted in position to a precise location. One such V-slot isused for each objective lens, however, only two have been shown. TheV-slots are positioned on the periphery of the turret 608 as shown andare designed to take a detent alignment ball 610. While the use ofdetents have been previously employed such use has involved the detentball riding on the periphery of the device during rotation. Inaccordance with this invention, the detent ball is separated from theperipheral surface of the turret when the turret is in motion. In fact,the ball is removed from the V-slot prior to the time at which theturret drive stepper motor 644 is actuated. By so doing, the pressure ofthe detent ball 610 on the peripheral surface of turret 608 is removed,thus allowing the turret to move at a more rapid rate and at the sametime the wear on both the turret and the ball is essentially eliminated.Detent ball 610 is bonded to detent lever arm 616 which is attached tothe moveable turret support 544 via flexure 617 (see FIG. 33). Flexure617 allows detent lever arm 616 to pivot about a vertical axis relativeto moveable turret support 544. A centering spring 620 is positioned inretaining apertures 618 and 624, the latter being in the detent pressurearm 622. By this arrangement, lever arm 616 is under constant biaspressure to force detent alignment ball 610 against the periphery of theturret 608.

When it is desired to change the objective lens in a handoffarrangement, pressure is applied via the objective alignment wire 626which pulls the lever arm 616 and consequently detent alignment ball 610out of a V-slot, such as 614, and away from the periphery of the turret608. This is accomplished in the following manner. Detent stepper motor636 provides the drive to motor shaft 634 which is attached via couplingassembly 632 to the mounting screw 630. Mounting screw 630 secures theinner race of ball bearing 628 to assembly 632. In the coupling assembly632, it is noted that the mounting scew 630 is off-set from that of thecentered motor shaft 634, thereby providing an eccentric drive. Wire 626is attached to the outer race of bearing 628. Thus, by rotation of themotor shaft 634 under control of the stepper motor 636, tension may beapplied to wire 626 whereby the lever arm 616 is pulled away from theperiphery of turret 608. The motor rotates 180 degrees to remove thedetent ball 610 from V-slot 612. Alternatively, the wire 626 may be in aslack condition which allows the lever arm 616 to force detent alignmentball 610 against the periphery of the turret 608, and avoids affectingthe preload of the detent ball 610 as the turret moves up and down tofocus.

An eccentric detent flag 638 is attached to the coupling assembly 632 bymeans of mounting screw 630. When in position such as shown in FIG. 31,wire 626 would be slack allowing the detent ball 610 to rest in V-slot614. Eccentric 638 is not in position to block optical detector 640 andthe assembly is in a "ready" status. When an objective handoff is to beaccomplished, the stepper motor 636 is actuated by movement controller52 causing tension to be applied to wire 626 which forces lever arm 616away from the periphery of the turret 608. At the same time, flag 638moves to a position in which it blocks the light flow through the pathof the optical detector 640 thereby stopping the stepper motor in aposition under which wire 626 is in tension. The motor rotates 180degrees during this process. As will be explained in detail hereinbelow,the turret is then driven to the next objective lens position. At thattime, stepper motor 636 is reactivated causing the tension on wire 626to be released and moving eccentric 638 so that it no longer blocks thelight to optical detector 640. When lever arm 616 comes toward theperiphery of turret 608, detent alignment ball 610 strikes a V-slot,such as 612 forcing the turret 608 to move into a precisely alignedposition.

The manner in which the turret 608 is driven from one objective positionto the next in a hand-off situation may be understood by reference toFIG. 32 in conjunction with the following discussion. Once the detentalignment ball 610 has been withdrawn from the V-slot, stepper motor 644is actuated and rotates shaft 646 which is coupled to a flexiblecoupling 650, the rotation being through an aperture 648 of the backplate 542. The motion is then transmitted via drive shaft 652 to asecond flexible coupling 654 and thence via shaft 656 which passesthrough a bearing 658 in turret support 544 to a standard bevel drivegear 660 on the turret head or nose piece. The use of the two flexiblecouplings is to allow for freedom of movement of the moveable turretsupport member 544 with respect to the rigid support member 542. A flag662 is attached to an alternate drive output of stepper motor 644 andthe gear ratio is such that one full rotation of the stepper motor 644drives the turret from one objective to the next adjacent objectivelens. This is a good approximation and is done rapidly. The detentmechanism provides precise alignment.

Once stepper motor 644 is activated, it will continue to drive theturret until the flag 662 interrupts the light path of optical detector664. At that time, the drive motion from the stepper motor will cease,and the stepper motor 644 is deenergized. However, the detent steppermotor 636 will now be reactivated so as to release the tension on wire626 and thus allow detent alignment ball 610 to drop into the associatedV-slot on the periphery of the turret 608. Because stepper motor 644 isdeenergized, the detent can move the turret drive as required to obtainexact positioning. By using this combination for the turret drive andalignment, the turret is allowed to run quickly between adjacentobjective lenses. Following this, tension on wire 626 is released andbias or centering spring 620 drives the ball into the V-slot forcing theturret 608 into a precise alignment. This positions the objective lensin the field of view of the previous objective lens and repeats towithin 1 micron in position each time. The exact position of eachobjective lens is adjusted to 2-5 micron, but the position is repeatableto within less than one micron. In an alternative embodiment, theV-slots are fixed and are capable only of accurate repeatability ratherthan absolute positioning accuracy. The same method of switchingobjectives is used as described above. However, accurate positioning isobtained by slight adjustment of the X-Y stage 28 based on positioningcorrections stored in the computer.

To suppress mechanical resonance in the autofocus system, a dampermechanism has been provided. One embodiment of a damper mechanism isshown in FIG. 32. This comprises a well 668, a damper 670 and a dampersupport arm 672. The well 668 containing silicone fluid 674 is attachedto the moveable turret support member 544. The damper support arm 672 isattached to the inner face of the rigid member 542. Because of theviscosity of the silicone fluid 674, resonances in the focus drivemechanism are suppressed. The damper also helps to decrease motioncaused by the drive mechanism for the turret 608 and the other drivemechanism. This is necessary because line width is measured to within1/20th of a micron and it is, of course, necessary to hold thevibrations to a magnitude which is less than this amount.

A preferred embodiment of a damper mechanism is shown in FIG. 32A. Awell 668A containing silicone fluid 674 is attached to the moveableturret support 544. The damper support arm 672 is attached to the innerface of the rigid member 542 as shown in the embodiment (see FIG. 32).In the bottom of the well 668A is a layer of closed cellfoam 669 whichcompresses under presure during damping action so as to accomodatedisplacement of the fluid. There are a plurality of spaced-apart thinplates 671 rising upwardly from the floor of well 668A to a level belowthe height of the sidewalls of said well. The damper 670A consists of ahorizontal plate 673 which is attached to the support arm 672, and aplurality of downwardly extending thin plates 675 which are positionedbetween the upwardly extending plates 671. This combination providesexceptional damping action following turret movement which results fromfocus up and down motion or the shifting from one objective to anotherwhich includes the up and down as well as rotary motion effects.

While this invention has been described in the light of preferredembodiments thereof, it is contemplated that modifications thereof willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art after having read thepreceeding description. It is therefore intended that the followingappended claims be interpreted as covering all such modifications asfall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for automatically inspecting apatterned wafer, comprising:a high-speed image computer for developingimage data from input image signals; a system control computer; datastorage means for storing image data corresponding to eitherpre-established image patterns or previously stored image patterns froman inspected wafer under control of said system computer, the storedimage data being selectively used in accordance with a test program fortest comparison with image data obtained from the wafer under inspectionand processed by said high-speed image computer; a wafer inspectionsubsystem including:camera means for developing said input image signalscorresponding to a wafer under inspection; a macro inspection stationfor casting an image within a first range of magnification of the waferunder inspection onto said camera means; a micro inspection station forcasting an image of the wafer within a second range of magnification ofthe wafer onto said camera means; a base for supporting both macro andmicro inspection stations above a floor surface; means for vibrationallyisolating said wafer inspection subsystem from said base portion tominimize the effect of outside disturbances; means for holding aplurality of cassettes, each said cassette being capable of storing aplurality of wafers; an X-Y inspection stage for carrying a wafer underinspection from a position within said macro inspection station to aposition within said micro inspection station; a vacuum chuck on saidX-Y stage for holding said wafer under inspection; means for loading awafer from one said cassette onto said vacuum chuck when it is in saidmacro inspection station; means for automatically macro inspecting awafer under different illumination conditions and powers ofmagnification to find if there are any serious macro defects; means forautomatically shifting the position of the vacuum chuck on the stage soas to align it and the carried wafer with the micro inspection station;means for automatically performing micro inspection of the wafer todetermine if it meets pre-established criteria for a good wafer; andmeans for unloading the wafer from said chuck; and control meansassociated with said system computer and operative to control operationof said subsystem.
 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including meansfor developing said test program, which comprises:means for effectingmanual control of said control means so that a patterned waferrepresentative of a particular class may be manually subjected toevaluation in each of the macro and micro inspection stations; a monitorfor viewing the images as they appear during said evaluation; a keyboardfor interfacing with said system computer to program a desired testprocedure for wafers of said particular class; and means for storingsaid program.
 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said meansfor automatically performing micro inspection tests comprises:means forautomatically aligning said wafer under inspection to any selectedposition without regard to displacement of the wafer pattern relative tothe edge and flat of said wafer; and means for automatically selectingan area from said automatically aligned wafer on which to perform aparticular test.
 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said meansfor loading a wafer includes:a load pad for receiving a wafer; means formoving a wafer from said cassette to said load pad; and wafer transportmeans for taking said wafer from said load pad and depositing it on saidchuck.
 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said means formoving a wafer comprises:a longitudinal track having one end thereofadjacent said load pad; a transverse track having one end positionedadjacent to said cassette to accept a wafer therefrom and an other endadjacent to said longitudinal track and near one of the ends thereof;first drive means for moving said wafer from said cassette towards saidlongitudinal track; first optical detection means associated with saidlongitudinal track opposite said other end of said transverse track,said first optical detection means stopping said first drive means whensaid wafer is on said longitudinal track; a second drive means formoving said wafer along said longitudinal track towards said load pad;and second optical detection means associated with said load pad, saidsecond optical detection means being activated by said controller tocause the wafer to stop when the wafer is on the load pad, only if thewafer is to pass through the inspection process.
 6. Apparatus as setforth in claim 5 wherein said load pad forms part of a wafer loadingmechanism including:a longitudinally extending arm adjacent to and inparallel with said longitudinal track; a transverse member attached atone end to a distal end of said longitudinally extending arm, saidtransverse member having said load pad affixed at the other end thereof,said load pad having an aperture centrally located therein for thepassage of a light signal for said second optical detection means; saidload pad including a recess located in the upper surface thereofadjacent said transverse member other end, said transverse memberincluding a tunnel which has one exit in the side wall of saidtransverse member adjacent the track side of said longitudinal arm andanother exit which joins a lower part of said recess; a vacuum sourceconnected to said one exit for evacuating said recess when a wafer is onsaid load pad, thereby securing said wafer to said load pad; actuatormeans for connection to the proximal end of said longitudinallyextending arm for moving said arm vertically to any one of threepositions; a low position which is below the longitudinal track forloading the wafer on the load pad, an intermediate position for loadingthe wafer on said wafer transport means, and a high position forallowing said wafer transport means to pass beneath said load pad; guidemeans for holding said loading mechanism in proper alignment. 7.Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said wafer transport meansincludes:a wafer transport arm having a straight portion and an arcuateportion attached to one end of said straight portion, said arcuateportion being recessed to provide a shelf to hold said wafer; thirddrive means for initially moving said wafer transport arm from anintermediate position to a position below and beyond said load padposition when said load pad is in its high position, said load pad thenbeing lowered to an intermediate position which is slightly above saidrecess of said arcuate portion, said third drive means then causing saidwafer transport arm to gently pivot about said drive means so as toalign said wafer with said recess as said transport arm moves toposition said recess adjacent said load pad; said load pad then beinglowered to its low position and said third drive means then causing saidwafer transport arm to move said wafer to a position above said vacuumchuck; and means for vertically moving said wafer transport arm betweena low and high position so as to raise the wafer up for transport tosaid vacuum chuck and than lower the arm to deposit the wafer on saidchuck, the transport arm then being moved back to said intermediateposition.
 8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said means forautomatically shifting includes:a base plate mounted on said stage andincluding a hard limit stop in each of the macro and micro inspectionlocations, said hard limit stops being used to precisely position thewafer for inspection; a macro-micro transport arm supported above saidbase plate by air bearings, said macro-micro transport arm beingpivotally interconnected with said base plate so as to permit pivotalmovement of the macro-micro transport arm between the macro and themicro inspection station locations, a hardened bumper is located on eachside of the macro-micro transport arm and positioned so as to strikeagainst its associated hard limit stop when shifted to that position;and drive link means for pivoting said macro-micro transport arm anddriving it against said hard stops so as to precisely position the waferin either the macro or the micro inspection station locations. 9.Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said macro-micro transport armincludes:a turntable rotatably supported above said macro-microtransport arm by air bearings to permit rotation thereof about a centralaxis about which the two are joined, the peripheral edge of theturntable being crowned and the horizontal surface being drilled toprovide a plurality of apertures which significantly reduce the weightof the assembly without adversely affecting the strength, and provisionbeing made for mounting said vacuum chuck concentric with saidturntable; a toothed belt placed around the periphery of the turntableand held centered thereon by said crowned edges and by belt tension; astepper motor located at the pivot point of said macro-micro transportarm and concentric therewith; a toothed pulley to be driven by saidstepper motor and the toothed belt being fashioned around said pulley,whereby the rotation of the turntable is precisely controlled. 10.Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said means for automaticallymacro inspecting a wafer includes:means for aligning the wafer bypattern comparison and rotating said turntable so as to bring anunaligned wafer into precise alignment; means for providing any one of aplurality of angles of illumination so as to permit inspection undervarious light conditions from bright-field to dark-field; and means forproviding a plurality of magnifications, one at a time, beginning withthe lowest magnification and sequentially viewing with increasedmagnification, the last magnification being such as to permitidentification of a unique pattern which is used in handoff alignment tothe micro inspection station.
 11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10wherein said means for providing any one of a plurality of angles ofillumination includes:an array of three vertically spaced-apart ringlamps that are concentric with each other about the central axis of thevacuum chuck when it is positioned in the macro inspection station; andan equal number of shields, one positioned above each lamp, for reducingthe incident light applied to the wafer surface by the higher lamps,each said shield extending increasingly radially inward with heightabove the chuck so as to reduce spurious reflections from the wafersurface, and to vary the included angle of illumination.
 12. Apparatusas set forth in claim 11 wherein said macro inspection stationincludes:a macro mirror positioned to accept the light reflectedvertically upward from the wafer surface and to redirect the light pathinto a horizontal plane; means for sequentially positioning each of aplurality of macro lenses in the horizontal light path to project aseries of surface images into said camera means.
 13. Apparatus as setforth in claim 1 and further comprising:means associated with said macrostation for identifying a unique pattern under highest macromagnification and storing the pattern characteristics for comparison;means for shifting the vacuum chuck and wafer under inspection to saidmicro inspection station; means for providing illumination to the wafersurface; a plurality of objective lenses each having a differentmagnification, the lenses being mounted on a lens turret and arranged inorder from lowest to highest magnification; means for automaticallypositioning the lowest magnification objective lens so as to receive thereflected light from the wafer surface following transfer of the waferfrom the macro inspection station to the micro inspection station; meansfor automatically focussing the objective lens; means for automaticallyadjusting the stage position until said unique pattern is identified bycomparison with said stored pattern; means for automatically aligningthe wafer by topological comparison of patterns which appear atdifferent locations on the wafer surface; and means for testing diepatterns and line widths to determine if there are serious defects. 14.In a system for automatic inspection of patterned wafers, an improvedwafer inspection subsystem comprising:a macro inspection station forinspecting a wafer at magnifications within a first range ofmagnification; a micro inspection station for inspecting a wafer atmagnifications within a second range of magnification; a base forsupporting both macro and micro inspection stations from a floorsurface; means for vibration isolating said macro and micro inspectionstations from said base to minimize the effects of outside disturbances;means for holding a plurality of cassettes, each said cassette beingcapable of storing a plurality of wafers; an X-Y inspection stage forcarrying a wafer from a position associated with said macro inspectionstation to a position associated with said micro inspection station; avacuum chuck on said X-Y stage for holding said wafer; means for loadinga wafer from said cassette onto said vacuum chuck when said chuck is insaid macro inspection station; means for automatically macro testing awafer under different illumination conditions and powers ofmagnification to find if there are any serious macro defects; means forautomatically shifting the position of the vacuum chuck on the stage soas to align it and the wafer with the micro inspection station; meansassociated with said micro inspection station for automaticallyperforming micro inspection tests to determine if the wafer meetspreestablished criteria for a good wafer; and means for unloading thewafer from said chuck.
 15. Apparatus as set forth in claim 14 whereinsaid means for loading a wafer includes:a load pad for receiving a waferfrom one of said cassettes; means for moving a wafer from said cassetteto said load pad; and wafer transport means for taking said wafer fromsaid load pad and depositing it on said chuck.
 16. Apparatus as setforth in claim 15 wherein said means for moving a wafer comprises:alongitudinal track having one end thereof adjacent said load pad; atransverse track having one end positioned adjacent said cassette toaccept a wafer therefrom and another end adjacent said longitudinaltrack and near one of the ends thereof; first drive means for movingsaid wafer from said cassette towards said longitudinal track; firstoptical detection means associated with said longitudinal track oppositesaid other end of said transverse track, said first optical detectionmeans stopping said first drive means when said wafer is on saidlongitudinal track; a second drive means for moving said wafer alongsaid longitudinal track towards said load pad; and second opticaldetection means associated with said load pad, said second opticaldetection means being activated by said controller to cause the wafer tostop when the wafer is on the load pad, only if the wafer is to passthrough the inspection process.
 17. Apparatus as set forth in claim 16including means for calibrating the inspection system including:acalibration wafer; means for storing said calibration wafer; and meansfor placing said calibration wafer into and for taking said calibrationwafer out of an inspection path.
 18. Apparatus as set forth in claim 17wherein said means for storing includes:an open ended structure having afull top and sides and a pair of bottom portions extending inwardly toprovide a surface for holding said calibration wafer, said bottomportions being separated so as to pass clear of said longitudinal track.19. Apparatus as set forth in claim 18 wherein said means for placingand taking includes:attachment means for holding said storing means inposition relative to said longitudinal track; actuator means for movingsaid holding storing means up and down, whereby when in the up position,said calibration wafer is supported on said bottom portions above saidlongitudinal track, and when in the down position, said bottom portionsare disposed below said track so as to deliver said calibration wafer tosaid longitudinal track or recover it therefrom; and guide means formaintaining the vertical alignment of said up and down movement. 20.Apparatus as set forth in claim 19 wherein said actuator means is an airpiston.
 21. Apparatus as set forth in claim 14 or claim 19 includingmeans for effecting environmental control which comprises:a source offiltered air at a pressure slightly above atmospheric; covers along thesides of said base portion which prevent the entrance of contaminantsduring the inspection process; and a first partial top cover attached atthe proximal edges to said base portion and a second partial top coverattached to said macro and micro inspection stations at the proximaledges thereof, said partial covers extending toward one another and thedistal edges thereof being adapted to form an airlock therebetween,whereby a control environment is obtained.
 22. Apparatus as set forth inclaim 19 wherein said loading pad member comprises:a longitudinal armadjacent to and in parallel with said longitudinal track; a transversemember attached at one end to the distal end of said longitudinal arm,said transverse member including said load pad at the other end thereof,said load pad including a recess located in the upper surface thereofadjacent said transverse member other end, said transverse memberincluding a tunnel which has one exit in the side wall of saidtransverse member adjacent to the track side of said longitudinal armand another exit which joins a lower part of said recess; a vacuum lineconnected to said one exit so that a vacuum may be pulled when a waferis on said load pad; actuator means adapted for connection to theproximal end of said longitudinal arm for moving said arm vertically toany one of three positions; low which is below the longitudinal trackfor loading the wafer on the load pad, intermediate for loading thewafer on said wafer transfer means, and high for allowing said wafertransfer means to pass beneath said load pad; and guide means forholding said loading pad member in proper alignment.
 23. Apparatus asset forth in claim 22 wherein said wafer transfer means comprises:awafer transfer arm having a straight portion and an arcuate portionattached to one end of said straight portion, said arcuate portion beingrecessed to provide a shelf to hold said wafer without gripping theedges thereof; drive means for initially moving said wafer transfer armfrom an intermediate position to a position below and beyond said loadpad position when said load pad is in its high position, said load padthen being lowered to an intermediate position which is slightly abovesaid recess of said arcuate portion, said drive means then causing saidwafer transfer arm to gently pivot about said drive means so as to alignsaid wafer with said recess as said transfer arm moves to position saidrecess adjacent said load pad; said load pad then being lowered to itslow position and said drive means then causing said wafer transfer armto move said wafer to a position above said vacuum chuck; and means forvertically moving said wafer transfer arm between a low and a highposition so as to raise the wafer up for transport to said vacuum chuckand then lower the arm to deposit the wafer on said chuck, the arm thenbeing moved back to said intermediate position.
 24. Apparatus as setforth in claim 23 wherein said micro inspection comprises:means foridentifying a unique pattern under highest macro magnification andstoring the pattern characteristics for comparison; means for shiftingthe vacuum chuck and associated wafer to said micro inspection stationand maintaining the alignment by rotating said turntable during saidshifting process; means for providing illumination to the wafer surface;a plurality of objective lenses each having a different magnification,the lenses being mounted on a lens turret and arranged in order fromlowest to highest magnification; means for automatically positioning thelowest magnification objective lens so as to receive the reflected lightfrom the wafer surface following transfer of the wafer from the macroinspection station to the micro inspection station; means forautomatically focusing the objective lens; means for automaticallyadjusting the stage position until said unique pattern is identified bycomparison with said stored pattern; means for automatically aligningthe wafer by topological comparison of patterns which appear atdifferent locations on the wafer surface; and means for testing diepatterns and line widths to determine if there are serious microdefects.
 25. Apparatus as set forth in claim 24 wherein said means fortesting comprises:means for automatically moving from one preselectedtest site to another; means for automatically selecting the appropriateobjective lens and focusing on said test location; and means forconverting the optical images encountered for each test into electricalsignals representative thereof, said electrical signals being used todetermine if the preselected test site passes or fails the tests.